Downey City Council: 8 candidates vie for 3 seats

DOWNEY - Eight candidates, including two incumbents, businessmen, a lawyer and a city commissioner, are competing for three Downey City Council seats in the Nov. 6 election.

Mayor Roger Brossmer is unopposed in District 3.

However, three candidates are trying to win the District 1 seat held by Mayor Pro Tem David R. Gafin, who will be termed out of office.

One of those contenders is Councilman Luis Marquez, who is leaving District 5 and seeking re-election in District 1.

As result, Marquez's District 5 is open and has four contenders.

District 1: Marquez says his top priorities are public safety and quality of life while being fiscally prudent. His accomplishments include bringing quality restaurants and shops to the city, improving parks, and enhancing graffiti removal programs, according to his candidate statement.

Candidate Michael Murray is a planning commissioner and the owner of Downey Used Cars. Murray says his 40 years of owning his business give him a foundation for balancing a budget in difficult economic times. His goals are to bring "new, exciting and necessary businesses" to the city, according to his candidate statement.

Mark Vasquez, a recreation and community services commissioner, didn't file a candidate statement with the City Clerk's Office.

District 5: Fifth District candidate Alex Saab is the president-elect of the Downey Chamber of Commerce and owns a law firm. His priorities are job creation, public safety, fiscal responsibility and making City Hall more accessible to residents, according to his campaign website.

Contender Salvador Franco is a former Bell Gardens councilman. A Downey resident since 2006, Franco owns a vocational training school, according to his candidate statement. Franco says he'll use "real-world experience" to attract over 100 new businesses to Downey, create hundreds of new private sector jobs and hire additional police officers if elected.

The third candidate, Gabriel Orozco, was raised in Downey and is a former professional baseball player who works in public relations. He advocates starting a monthly roundtable meeting of business leaders to discuss economic development, revitalizing parks and recreation and implementing more community programs, and bringing a cultural art center to downtown, according to his website.

The last contender is attorney Ricardo Perez, who runs his own Downey-based law firm. He graduated from UCLA and has a law degree from Loyola Law School, according to his candidate statement.